Reader Adam wrote in to let us know that he’s switching to FiOS after Comcast credited his payment to the wrong account number, accused him of not paying his bill, disconnected his cable, lied about it, then couldn’t get it back on for several days.

The drama started when Adam moved and Comcast kept applying his payment to his old account. After a few months of this, they shut off his cable and told him he owed around $300, which he gladly paid over the phone — only to realize that he’d just paid Comcast twice for the same service and that his cable still wasn’t back on.

His original email was understandably quite lengthy, but here’s how he signed off:

The worst part of it all, LOST is on tonight and I am missing it.

Oh yeah, I am picking up a wireless signal from a neighbor since my internet is out. Be sure to also tell people to secure their networks since you never know who is on it.

The whole mess was eventually straightened out — but Adam decided he’d had enough of Comcast and switched to FiOS, which is where we join his story.

Adam writes:

As I have been updating you on my serious of issues with Comcast and their breaking of protocol, lying to a customer, and inability to handle even the simplest of requests the saga is finally over but not without one last instance of poor customer service.

On Friday 05/15/09 I had FIOS installed but my Comcast billing cycle went through Monday 05/18/09 and on Sunday 05/17/09 at 6:30pm I called Comcast to cancel my service and was unable to speak with a person regarding billing.

I called 2-3 times to try to speak with someone but kept getting taken to the same area on the phone system, and finally after selecting I was having trouble with service was I finally able to get a CSR on the phone. I told them I would like to cancel my service and when they asked why I said I was done with the level of service I got from Comcast and had FIOS installed.

The person said they were sorry to hear that but they were unable to complete my request and I needed to call back on Monday 05/18/09 during business hours because they only had technical support on the weekends. In my last statement to Comcast, I explained that this was exactly the reason I am canceling their service.

I called to handle an issue with them, and it should not matter what day or what time I called, because if I have a billing problem I should be able to speak with a person immediately, but that area is not open on Sundays and there was no one that could help me. I bet if I wanted to start service or purchase additional items like movie channels, pay per views, etc.. someone would have happily done that for me.

I went to the Comcast billing office this morning to return my equipment and cancel my service, and upon telling the person what I wanted to do she did not seem to care or ask any questions, just accepted the items and gave me a return receipt.

Adios Comcast, it has been an unpleasant 6 months with their service. If I can be just 1 person who stands up to them and refuses to accept substandard levels of service, then hopefully I can inspire others to do the same thing.

Thanks again for all your help while I was trying to remedy my situation with Comcast. If i had not had The Consumerist, I would probably still be trying to figure out where my money is and just calling the general help line and never being able to get to the executive level, even though they were just as inept, at least I have it on the official record with them. Now let’s just hope that check is actually in the mail to me.

One last piece of advice, Adam. Hang on to that receipt.

(Photo:mojojornjorn)

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